Achievement Days....

For Achievement Days we are doing this cross-stich, and now that Megan is the Big 8 she is showing how hers is coming along....8 is a fun age!

Jacob lost another tooth....

Girls Night

Megan had three of her friends come over to spend the night last month....so between the four girls and my three other children, we had serious fun going on!! We went to the movie to see Hotel for Dogs...which was way cute and everyone had a blast...well, the boys did not have as much fun as the girls....

Travis had a crush on Miss Ashley here, so he was constantly following the girls around, which drove them CRAZY (and they often told me about it!) Jacob knew all the girls from school and they weren't playing boy stuff, so he wan't interested in playing with them....so next, will be a boy slumber party......They stayed up late and got up early.....it took me three or four days to recover :)

Driving around the yard

On chilly days...we hang around the yard in our winter hat and if you look closely enough you will see that he is wearing his swimming suit....in December!

Favorite babysitter.....

My kids love Miss Leeney from our ward.....they will clean their room, play nicely and even cart-wheels in the air....It's fun to have a special babysitter.....

What Christmas means to me....

Christmas time meant slumber parties at grandma's house...we are lucky enough to live close enough to BOTH grandma's...so the had double the sleep overs...This picture is with Grandma Barton who had a Cousin Sleepover....these are only a few of the cousins still at Grandma's when I sshowed up....They get the best of bothe worlds...wild and crazy cousin stuff on one side....then my mom did and individual sleepover, so they got the personalized touch of doing stuff one on one.....

and these are my yummpy peppermint cupcakes that I couldn't make enough of....I even throw in crushed peppermint to my cake mix for a little BAM!

Chloe gets a trim

This isn't her first haircut...but she is still so dang cute climbing up into the big chair and getting her hair trimmed....Here she is at our favorite beautician- Miss Amanda....she has been making us beautiful(and handsome) for years....

My other children are very facinated about her "yellow" hair....they often ask when it is going to go dark like the rest of us....she's jusy cute!

Happy Birthday Travis

Travis had waited a long time to celebrate his birthday....here he is blowing out the candles...

These are some friends and family that helped us all celebrate his birth.....We love you Travis !!!

Country Stuff

I thought by living in the country, my children would have exposure to things that "city" kids don't....like, my kids watch the corn grow till it is harvested...same with cotton (thats where sheets and clothes come from-some anyway), my children see trains on a daily basis, different farming equipment...Travis can pick out a crop of cattle corn versus sweet corn andy day of the week...all types of animals...but somehow I have failed Chloe in her "learnin"...we were driving past a field of animals...it is close to our house so we pass it a minimum of two times a day every day....she is looking at everything and then, "AAWWW, mom look at those cute little horsies"...
They were in fact goats....

A Conversation with Travis...

"Mom, I need some scissors"
"No Scissors"
"Why?"
"B/C we aren't doing any art projects, and you can't have scissors (always a bad idea w/Travis"
"Why does Megan get scissors?"
"b/c Megan is almost 9...when your almost 9 you can have a pair of scissors"
" But I NEED a pair of scissors!"
"no"
he walks off and is definately up to something...then QUICKLY goes upstairs
"Travis?"
he keeps walking up the stairs till he gets to the top and THEN comes back down- mom is on to him
"Travis, do you have any scissors?"
"no"
"let me check your pockets"
b/c of a few incidents in a few stores, he is used to being "searched" for evidence
"see mom, no scissors"- he is still very calm and cool, but mom is still onto him...
He QUICKLY runs back upstairs....
a few minutes later he comes back downstairs (still very cool and calm) and sits by me and makes conversation (actually I think he is trying to redirect my attention so I will forget about the previous interest in the scissors- he is very smooth)...
"Travis, I'm about to go upstairs, and I will be VERY grumpy if I find that you've been up to something you shouldn't be..."
"you won't FIND anything"-shrugging his shoulders, still very calm...
"are you sure you don't want to go double check and bring something back down before I go up?"
"no"
"I will be LOOKING for stuff when I go up"
"Will you be looking EVERYWHERE?"
"everywhere" this is where I beging to follow the clues...
"will you be looking in my room?"
"Yes, I will be looking in your room"
"Dont look under my bed!"
"I will definately be looking under your bed!" _now I will
"You can go upstairs and look, but don't look under my bed"
As I go upstairs, I can hear him slip out the back door....and just like he suggested, the evidence was under his bed(along with the cut up box)....He was busted had to serve time on his bed....

cheap gas= happiness

I don't know what it is....but when you buy gas at a cheap price, a warm fuzzy feeling comes over you that compels you to smile....Now, I am sure it is hard for those who live in town to appreciate such a feeling...but for those of us who drive 30 miles(one way) to church, 30 miles (one way) to Wed. activities, 30 miles (one way) to sam's and other decent grocery stores....cheap gas is serious business....Today was one of those days....After spending an hour & 1/2 at Hobby Lobby with my 3year old and trying to figure out Valentine decor for the upcoming dinner/dance (One of us was probably going to start crying- there is just something about a place that puts breakable things on glass shelves that are crowded with stuff)....anyways, I definately wasn't smiling going home.... I pass this gas station that was celebrating their GRAND OPENING with cheap gas.....$1.57 for unleaded....Jared filled up at $1.87 for Diesel (that is the real whopper, last summer it was almost $5.00!!!)...all 40 gallons!!! Then, that feeling that I was talking about...all smiles (and I wasn't even drinking a Diet Coke :) )

I see London, I see France.....

It seems that when we discover an (obnoxious) activity, it takes FOREVER to move past it(only to really replace it with a new "obnoxious" one)....for example, we had only recently stopped the arm-pit, noise making sounds...it seemed as though every time I turned the corner (at church, at home, in the car, at someones house) I was telling my kids to stop it....and now what do we have?? yes, "I see London, I see France...." you get the idea....poor Chloe, insists on getting dressed behind the door or behind the furniture to prevent anyone from "seeing" her....but don't feel too bad for her...she finds great joy in every chance she gets to sing the song!! The real kicker in this story is that, after busting my two older kids from this whole craziness, they quickly ratted out the one who taught them this song.....DAD!! (his name often comes up in confessions like this)